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October 19, 2007

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

In the American Prospect, Gershom Gorenberg analyzes how archaeology is used at the Haram Sharif/Temple Mount to underline claims of sovereignty and draws an important lesson from the 2001 Camp David talks (2.) Reuters examines the many challenges facing Secretary Rice in bringing Israelis and Palestinians to agree on a joint document for the fall meeting as well as on entering formal statehood talks after that (4.) In the Middle East Times, Claude Salhani reports on the ATFP's DC gala at which Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns reiterated Secretary Rice's assertion that the time for establishing a Palestinian state was now (6.) A Forward editorial urges Israel seize the opportunity for peace between Israel and Syria and the Palestinians, warning of the consequences for Israel in not doing so (7.) In Israel Policy Forum, MJ Rosenberg lays out why the right-wing Israeli and Jewish American claims that Jerusalem is in danger of being 'divided' are in reality a scare tactic meant to oppose peace efforts (9.) The Financial Times (UK) looks at Palestinian indifference on the street regarding the fall meeting for reasons relating to both internal division and Israel actions on the ground (11.) A Jordan Times (Jordan) opinion by George Hishmeh argues for an Israeli commitment to the Non-Proliferation treaty (14.) A Jerusalem Post (Israel) opinion by former Israeli Foreign Ministry director-general David Kimche urges Israel to capitalize on the current opportunity to achieve a two-state solution before its time passes and the one-state solution becomes the default option (15.)

National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley will head to the Middle East next week, the latest in a procession of senior U.S. officials trying to keep nascent Israeli-Palestinian talks on track in advance of a possible peace conference later this fall.
The trip was disclosed by officials traveling with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was in the British capital for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II after spending four days shuttling between Israel, Egypt and the West Bank.

The battle over the agenda of a conference on Palestinian statehood offers U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a glimpse of the gruelling process that awaits if and when the two sides enter formal negotiations.
The odds of ultimate success are slim at best unless the Bush administration, which once derided what it called former U.S. President Bill Clinton's "shoot the moon" diplomacy, can bring weakened Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take risks their predecessors would not accept, former negotiators said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spent four days in the Middle East this week to drum up support for an international summit that the US hopes will push the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward.

Israel’s foreign intelligence service, the Mossad, recently concluded that Syria is sincere in its offers to make peace with Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The assessment was reported last week in the mass-circulation Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, based on sources within the Mossad.

As the Annapolis peace parley rapidly approaches, some of the Arab and Muslim players expected to play a key role in creating conditions for a favorable outcome are proving to be more of an obstacle than an asset.
Egypt, Syria and Turkey have been complicating efforts to hold what
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the United States envisions to be a tipping point in the long-dormant peace process.

Here is the only thing you need to know about Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s plan to divide Jerusalem: there is no such plan. There never was one and it is safe to say that there will never be one.
Nor is there a plan by any other Israeli leader to divide Jerusalem. Additionally, neither Mahmoud Abbas nor the Palestinian Authority he heads favors the division of Jerusalem.
From Olmert to Ramon to Beilin to Abbas and Fayyad, there is not a single proposal to divide the city.
So what is all the yelling about?

After five days of shuttle diplomacy, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, returned home empty-handed yesterday, having failed to pin down participants, an agenda or a firm date for a planned Middle East peace conference.
At the end of a punishing round of talks with Israeli, Palestinian and Arab leaders, Dr Rice said that she was “encouraged” by her mission, but admitted that serious obstacles remained.

Israel offered a free lesson to its Arab and Islamic neighbors on Thursday, launching a diplomatic offensive designed to gain Russian and Chinese acquiescence in new UN sanctions against Iran over that country's nuclear program. Immediately following Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Tehran for a summit of Caspian Sea littoral states, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert headed for Moscow, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reportedly will travel to Beijing on Saturday.

The Missing LinkATFP World Press Roundup Article
from The Jordan Times
by
George Hishmeh
-
(Opinion)
October 19, 2007 - 4:46pm

The continued give-and-take over the predawn Israeli air strike at an unmanned Syrian site, reportedly a nascent nuclear facility close to the Turkish border, remains a mystery several weeks after it happened. Even the United Nations watchdog organisation handling nuclear issues, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has pleaded ignorance on the subject.

Condoleezza Rice met with Middle East leaders this week to prepare the Annapolis meeting that has become ever more critical to illustrating the administration’s renewed focus on resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. Measures of success for the Annapolis summit are important, not simply for “grading” the session, but for setting up a framework to analyze progress moving forward.

Back To The Iranian ArenaATFP World Press Roundup Article
from Haaretz
by
Aluf Benn, Shmuel Rosner
-
(Opinion)
October 22, 2007 - 1:28pm

Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona began his remarks with a joke about erstwhile movie star Zsa Zsa Gabor. After her wedding to her fifth husband, the guests had gone home and the husband was perplexed. I know what I am supposed to do now, he said to her, but as husband No. 5, I'm not certain I can do it in an interesting way.